BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

17/10/2007

Energy congress opens in Belarus

MINSK, October 17 (Itar-Tass) - The 12th Belarussian energy and environment forum opens in Minsk on Wednesday.

Its goal is assistance to the implementation of governmental measures for energy security, energy saving and rational use of resources.

The international exhibition Energy Expo 2000 is held at the forum, where modern equipment and technology for production and distribution of electric and heat energy, automated systems, energy and resource-saving are demonstrated.

Over 300 enterprises and organisations from 17 countries will attend the forum.

The Day of Russia will be held at the forum for the first time.

A councillor of the Russian embassy to Belarus, Andrei Kuznetsov, said representatives of Russia's major companies that make supplies to the energy sector would take part in the forum, including Atomstroiksport, Power Machines and Saturn-Gas Turbines.

The Russian suppliers are ready to work with the republic on terms of transparency of tenders held in the republic.

In September, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko approved a draft energy security concept for the years to 2020.

The task is to decrease the energy intensity of gross domestic product by 31 percent in the years to 2010 and by 60 percent by 2020 as compared to 2005.

A proportion of the use of local fuels in the electric and heat energy output is to be kept at 30 percent,

Lukashenko has ordered the government to prepare a tender for the construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus.

Belarus considers as potential participants in the project an American-Japanese, a French-German and a Russian group of companies.

Preparatory work for the construction of the nuclear power plant is to be completed in 2008.

Source:

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11975375&PageNum=0

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